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When Nancy-Jo Taiani was in elementary school she was terrified whenever a teacher assigned an essay that might reveal any of her feelings.
So, she majored in Math.
Later, working in technology, she wrote for and edited an in-house newsletter while working on several stories for children—still not showing any private feelings.
But, what’s more personal than a memoir?

Perhaps the influence of The Montclair Write Group helped Nancy-Jo overcome terror to write Healing Father John.
Maybe it was her determination to introduce others to Father Nickas, or his personal goal to teach her to have more self-confidence, or all three things working together.

Nancy-Jo lives in New Jersey with her husband of thirty-three years and two very opinionated cats, Peter and Mish Mish. The latter has a website at Mish-Mish Spy Cat. Nancy-Jo enjoys painting, gardening, and hiking in the spare time left her from her activism for social justice.

With thirty years of worldwide experience under her belt, Gloria Tausk Glickman knows the many and varied challenges of the corporate world. The California resident has worked in the United States, Singapore, and Austria for major companies in finance, insurance, medical products, telecommunications, and publishing. Her extensive education–degrees from The City College of New York (B.S.- Mathematics), Northwestern University (M.A.- Mathematics Education), and Fairleigh Dickinson University (M.B.A.- Information Systems Management)–reflects her transition from teaching college mathematics to a fast-paced, globe-trotting corporate career in finance and computers.

Since her retirement, Glickman continues with her passion for helping others use their inner strengths to succeed in their personal and professional lives. The corporate exec turned coach now presents inspiring career seminars to college students, alumni, and professionals, using instructive “lessons learned” from her decades of business experience.

Arlene McCarren describes herself as a mature Italian American woman who raised five children in her early years and who spent her later years taking care of her desperately ill husband, Jim. After forty-eight years of marriage, Arlene became Jim’s primary caregiver in the final year of his life.

Holding many and varied jobs before and after marriage, Arlene grew and gained experiences, some that prepared her for her final job, some that did not.

George Hickman was born in Hunterdon County, New Jersey. He is a self-proclaimed graduate of the school of “Hard Knocks,” a parent who believes people need to express their love for their children at every opportunity because “we never know what tomorrow might bring.”

Pictured as he was in 1964 and, internally at least, how he still is today.

Joe Del Priore is a prolific author whose work has been appearing in print since 1982. Joe’s essays, poems, short stories, profiles, reportage, and reviews have been published in The Hudson Current, Village Voice, Bergen Record, NY Times, Afterword, Tennis Week, The Idiom, Unquiet Desperation, Wings, Soma, Tri-Athlete, Marymark Press, New York Press, Bewildering Stories, Diverse Voices Quarterly, Folio Magazine, and others.

In addition to his written works, Joe has created monologues, skits, and plays that have been performed at New Jersey and New York venues, including Pianos in Bloomfield, Nutley Little Theater, Cornelia Street Café, Theater Vision in NY, Debaun Auditorium, Monroe Street Theater, Bergen County Players, and Bloomfield Cultural Center. Joe’s play, The Gulf, was made into a short film in the spring of 2010.

Barbara Lipton is a travel writer, speaker and photographer. One example of her work is Village Life in Rajasthan: In 2006, she distributed disposable cameras to the senior class of the Mrs. Helena Kaushik Women’s College, Malsisar, Rajasthan, India, for students to document their home life.

Ina C. Schoonover, former technical writer and project manager, has been writing stories and poetry since she was a very young girl. She comes from a culture that believed children should be seen and not heard. Because of this, she listened intently to the stories told by her elders and became fascinated by them. She wanted to know more…